BEST SELLERS: March 23, 2003

Published: March 23, 2003

Weeks

This Last On

Week Week List Fiction

1 1 THE JESTER, by James Patterson and Andrew Gross. (Little, Brown, $27.95.) Upon returning home from the First Crusade, an innkeeper learns that his son has been killed and his wife has been abducted.

2 1 5 THE KING OF TORTS, by John Grisham. (Doubleday, $27.95.) A public defender in Washington happens upon a frightening conspiracy.

3 1 DATING GAME, by Danielle Steel. (Delacorte, $26.95.) After her husband leaves her, a 46-year-old woman decides what to do with the rest of her life.

4 2 37 THE LOVELY BONES, by Alice Sebold. (Little, Brown, $21.95.) A 14-year-old girl looks down from heaven as she describes what happens in the aftermath of her kidnapping and murder.

5 3 3 SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, by Judith McNaught. (Atria, $25.) When the rich husband of a Broadway actress disappears, she becomes a suspect.

9 11 2 THE DANTE CLUB, by Matthew Pearl. (Random House, $24.95.) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes et al. hunt for a killer who has been inspired by their translation of the ''Inferno.''

10 7 9 CROSSROADS OF TWILIGHT, by Robert Jordan. (Tor/Tom Doherty, $29.95.) The 10th volume in the fantasy series ''The Wheel of Time.''

11 9 5 THE CAT WHO BROUGHT DOWN THE HOUSE, by Lilian Jackson Braun. (Putnam, $23.95.) Jim Qwilleran and his cat Koko look into a suspicious death.

12 1 THE TAIL OF THE TIP-OFF, by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown. (Bantam, $24.95.) With the assistance of her cats, the postmaster of a small town in Virginia investigates two mysterious deaths.

13 10 LIFE OF PI, by Yann Martel. (Harcourt, $25.) An allegory on the high seas, in which a teenage boy and a 450-pound tiger are thrown together in a lifeboat.

1 3 4 THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, by Erik Larson. (Crown, $25.95.) The tale of a great architect (Daniel Hudson Burnham) and a serial killer (H. H. Holmes), who were linked by the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.

4 1 THE HUNT FOR BIN LADEN, by Robin Moore. (Random House, $24.95.) The war in Afghanistan as seen through the eyes of members of the Special Forces; by the author of ''The Green Berets.''

5 1 *JARHEAD, by Anthony Swofford. (Scribner, $24.) A memoir of the 1991 Persian Gulf war by a former Marine sniper.

6 4 9 WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE? by Po Bronson. (Random House, $24.95.) The stories of 55 people who found their calling after years of struggle.

7 5 6 THIS JUST IN, by Bob Schieffer. (Putnam, $26.95.) A memoir by the chief Washington correspondent for CBS News and moderator of ''Face the Nation.''

8 6 4 USEFUL IDIOTS, by Mona Charen. (Regnery, $27.95.) The columnist and television commentator goes on the attack against liberals, who ''got it wrong in the cold war and still blame America first.'' (+)

9 8 22 GOOD TO GREAT, by Jim Collins. (HarperBusiness, $27.50.) Why some companies thrive and others do not. (+)

10 10 2 HATRED'S KINGDOM, by Dore Gold. (Regnery, $27.95.) An Israeli diplomat who has served as ambassador to the United Nations argues that ''Saudi Arabia supports the new global terrorism.'' (+)

11 13 3 OF PARADISE AND POWER, by Robert Kagan. (Knopf, $18.) A scholar analyzes the changing relationship between Europe and the United States.

12 9 16 BUSH AT WAR, by Bob Woodward. (Simon & Schuster, $28.) Behind the scenes at the White House as the president and his advisers responded to the attacks of Sept. 11.

13 7 23 LEADERSHIP, by Rudolph W. Giuliani with Ken Kurson. (Miramax/Hyperion, $25.95.) The former mayor of New York discusses what it takes to be a leader and addresses subjects like the crime rate and 9/11. (+)

14 11 6 PIGS AT THE TROUGH, by Arianna Huffington. (Crown, $22.) How ''corporate greed and political corruption are undermining America.'' (+)

15 12 9 THE RIGHT MAN, by David Frum. (Random House, $25.95.) A former speechwriter for President Bush relives the first year of his administration.